NIGEL LYTHGOE

Three-time Emmy winner Nigel Lythgoe has been a pioneer in reality television and a driving force in the world of performing arts as the creator, executive producer and judge on SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE. It has won 16 Emmy Awards and received 64 nominations and as the executive producer of the TV juggernaut , which has been nominated 67 times and won 8 Emmy Awards.

Lythgoe spearheaded and produced IDOL GIVES BACK, which raised more than $170 Million for an array of worthy causes. In 2007, it was distinguished with the prestigious Governors Award, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences’ highest honor. Lythgoe was recognized with the International Emmy Founders Award, presented to him in New York by Lady Gaga, honoring him for his indelible imprint on the TV industry and a body of work that crosses cultural boundaries and speaks to our common humanity.

Beyond his powerful impact on entertainment, Lythgoe has dedicated himself to providing access to the performing arts for underserved youth and communities. In 2009, Lythgoe co-founded the Dizzy Feet Foundation, a nonprofit organization that works to support, improve, and increase access to dance education in underprivileged communities throughout the U.S. Under Lythgoe’s leadership over DizzyFeet has now become the American Dance Movement and in partnership with the American Heart Association have created a dance program for schools called “Kids Heart Challenge.”

Also In 2009, the U.K.’s University of Bedfordshire awarded Lythgoe with an honorary Doctor of Arts for his outstanding contribution to the performing arts in television.

In 2010, Lythgoe created National Dance Day and achieved the recognition of a Congressional resolution to hold the annual event on the last Saturday in September. This highly anticipated annual celebration promotes dance as part of a healthy, active lifestyle.

Lythgoe was elected Chairman of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts Los Angeles in 2010. In this role, he hosted Prince William and Kate Middleton at an event in Los Angeles in 2011. He created the BAFTA Los Angeles Nigel Lythgoe Television Scholarship providing financial aid and access to educational opportunities for British students studying in the United States.

To champion the creative fusion between the United Kingdom and California, Lythgoe created the non-profit organization BritWeek. Now going strong for more than a decade, BritWeek hosts an annual series of events celebrating British and American collaboration in film, television, music, art, fashion, design, business, sports, and philanthropy.

In 2014, Lythgoe was awarded the Ellis Island International Medal of Honor. In 2015, Lythgoe was nominated for a Tony Award for the Broadway Musical sensation “On the Town.”

He was named on Her Majesty The Queen Elizabeth's Birthday Honors List in 2015 and awarded an OBE (Order of the British Empire) for his work in Education, Charity and the Arts.

In 2021, Lythgoe will also receive his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Lythgoe was born in St. Helen’s, Lancashire, England. He and his family moved to Liverpool, where he began tap dancing at 11 years of age. Not only does Lythgoe passionately support and provide opportunities to the next generation of dancers, he has worked with legends from Tom Jones, Bing Crosby, Chita Rivera and Cyd Charisse. As a choreographer he has choreographed over 500 TV shows with everyone from Ben Vereen to the Muppets.

He serves on the Board of Directors for The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, Turnaround Arts, LA’s Best, and the USC Kaufman Board of Councilors. He created the Nigel Lythgoe Endowed Dance Scholarship for USC’s Glorya Kaufman School of Dance.

Lythgoe resides in Los Angeles, which he has called home for 20 years.